im no audo/recording kinda guy, i`ve been busting my ass of trying to look for easy explained information on the internet for hours, so you are my last resort (maybe i should have posted this a long time ago ?? )

this post is for everyone that is interested or want to start a music channel on youtube etc.and for promoting your music

Well, you'll need some sort of Camera to start with HD hopefully 1920x1080. And a decent microphone. SHURE SM57 is a good place to start And a recording interface. The SCARLETT is a good choice and not crazy pricey. And a DAW/software. REAPER is free to download.

Then you'll need to edit it together. IF you are on windows, you can use SONY VEGAS, or ADOBE PREMIERE.

That's assuming you want to to a high quality version. If you want something a bit more quick and dirty, just get a nice camera with a decent built in microphone and shoot yourself playing. Then transfer that to your computer. If you do it in one take, you can skip the editing and just upload it. Really depends on how far you wanna take it

Todd

QUOTE (Cornelius @ Jul 31 2014, 10:45 AM)

Hi Folks XD

im no audo/recording kinda guy, i`ve been busting my ass of trying to look for easy explained information on the internet for hours, so you are my last resort (maybe i should have posted this a long time ago ?? )

this post is for everyone that is interested or want to start a music channel on youtube etc.and for promoting your music

Well, you'll need some sort of Camera to start with HD hopefully 1920x1080. And a decent microphone. SHURE SM57 is a good place to start And a recording interface. The SCARLETT is a good choice and not crazy pricey. And a DAW/software. REAPER is free to download.

Then you'll need to edit it together. IF you are on windows, you can use SONY VEGAS, or ADOBE PREMIERE.

That's assuming you want to to a high quality version. If you want something a bit more quick and dirty, just get a nice camera with a decent built in microphone and shoot yourself playing. Then transfer that to your computer. If you do it in one take, you can skip the editing and just upload it. Really depends on how far you wanna take it

Todd

great feedback from Todd as usually i like it when they switch camera angles, it kinda look more professional say for instance i wanna make a video like the one i showed...

how can i "arrange" the setting... have the SHURE SM57 on a rack behind the camera facing me ? plugged that in to the interface and then edit ? or

Very good question! I was also thinking about recording some unplugged song performances and thinking along the same lines so I'd like to share some insights in the possible technical solutions to achieve this.

* Good audio

To capture the acoustic guitar you'd need :

- Condenser mic + stand - Acoustic line audio (in case the acoustic guitar has built in mic/pickup and electronics)- Depending on the condenser mic placement you might not need another microphone just to capture vocals. In ideal scenario, you'd use another condenser (or dynamic) mic of preference on the vocals.

You'll also need an audio card to get all these channels into your computer and DAW (recording software). Make sure you have enough inputs on the device to capture everything you need simultaneously. If you do not have enough inputs, you could look into getting the small mixing console (http://www.mackie.com/Products/mixers/) to get everything mixed together there and brought into the computer. In this case you will be limited in the mixing/production as you'd record multiple tracks if not all of the performance on a single channel/track.

* Good quality video

- I'd recommend a DSLR camera here, something like Canon 550D. Also, add-on lenses like 50mm F1.8 can give you some really cool depth of view effect which instantly give the video a more professional look. These cameras provide excellent HD video and a preferred weapon of choice for independent filmmakers (due to high quality and versatility in relation to cost) and are used in lots of music video productions nowadays.

* Different camera angles

Now this is a good point. What I'd do here myself is : record live performance from one angle (video + live audio). Than record additional angles on playback, using the audio recording you just made. It will still look live when playback and live footage is combined and the performance is indeed live so not much cheating there. I'd bet at least 80% of those acoustic/unplugged videos on Youtube are shot this way. Sometimes it is a must because of space and also types of angles, you can't always have two or more cams recording simultaneously without getting each other in a way (shot).

Please let me know your budget and if you need more specific links for the possible gear to get in order to achieve this.

Hi Cornelius! Great to see you interested in recording good quality youtube videos. I can see that Bogdan has shared all the basics you should have in mind regarding equipment in order to get a video like the one you shared there.

To summarize, the equipment + software that you need it:

- Acoustic guitar with pick up and line out.- Condenser Mic- Guitar cable for line recording- Audio interface with at least 2 inputs, and one of them with preamp and phantom for your mic.- Daw (Multitrack software)- Video Camera- Video Editor

There are lots of options depending on your budget so please let us know which of these things you already have and what's your current budget and we will give you specific suggestions.

If you want to switch camera angles, you just record your performance a couple of times. Move the camera, set up again with a new angle, and record again. When you are done, you put all of the video in to your editing program and you have more than one shot to choose from

If you are using the "quick and dirty method" you can run the SM57 directly in to your HD camcorder. You'll need an XLR cable, and a xlr male to 1/8th inch male adapter plug (ebay/radioshack/amazon) to run the mic in to your camcorder.

Make sure you turn on the level meters in your camcorder so you can see if you are redlining.

When editing, pick one performance as far as audio goes and just cut in other angles on the video track. Otherwise, your audio will sound like it's skipping around.

This is all assuming you are going for the "performance" video? You can always go for the "music video" approach where you have a finished studio track and you record video of you playing/singing and match it to the finished track. It is a good way to get good quality vids but it loses the "live performance" edge.

Start shooting and share something! Make sure your camera is HD and make sure it records to SD memory cards. NOT TAPE!! Also make sure it has a MIC IN for your nice mic.

Todd

QUOTE (Cornelius @ Jul 31 2014, 03:23 PM)

great feedback from Todd as usually i like it when they switch camera angles, it kinda look more professional say for instance i wanna make a video like the one i showed...

how can i "arrange" the setting... have the SHURE SM57 on a rack behind the camera facing me ? plugged that in to the interface and then edit ? or

NICE GEAR!!! I'd say DON"T buy a DSLR yet. You've got two NICE CAMERAS!! Try them out Glad you got the Scarlett! For the price it's really hard to beat! Great interface

You need some Video Editing Software and you could probably benefit from some audio software (DAW, Digital Audio Workstation).

If you have some money to spend, (ASSUMING YOU ARE ON WINDOWS? IF YOU ARE ON MAC LET ME KNOW!)

If you are on a MACINTOSH I'd say get PREMIERE PRO I used to recommend FINAL CUT but the new version isn't really and editor. It's in it's own universe. Learning it won't help you use any other video editing system. So it's somewhat pointless unless you already using it.

Tnx Todd well explained, but i noticed you recomendet the SM57, this is a Dynamic Mic Right ? should i use Condensator, or is it good enough ? cause when i make the audio, i only need one mounted Mic in the room, behind the camera right, is that good enough ? and then plug it on to the Scarlet ?

And btw , i use mac, so tnx for the link to the program.. preshe8it im so psyched to make new videos, cant wait..

cause when i make the audio, i only need one mounted Mic in the room, behind the camera right, is that good enough ? and then plug it on to the Scarlet ?

You actually want to mount the microphone so that it captures your guitar and/or vocals well. This means that the microphone should be mounted just like if you would only be recording the audio. If you move the microphone away from the shot and behind the camera, the sound captured will not be as good.

For example let's take this clip (thumbs up for choice of the song ) :

There is a dynamic mic (probably SM58) on vocals and condenser mic capturing acoustic guitar.

You seem to already have two good cameras. I would test shoot both and first see which one has better quality picture/video.Then I'd use only that cam for the entire video (re-shooting multiple angles on playback). That way you avoid mixing footage from two completely different cameras which will have different quality picture.

Now what is interesting is that Zoom Q4 has a very nice microphone built in. It might be worth experimenting in using it possibly instead of a condenser mic to capture the acoustic guitar (with or without vocals).

Switching to DSLR cam is a matter of choice. Good quality DSLR cam like Cannon 550D will surely provide you with better quality video and you'll be also able to take advantage of the ability to change the lenses on the cam. Check out Youtube to see demo of those cams can do. But, DSLR cams are not cheap by any stretch. In any case, you'll need a cameraman as shooting everything from the tripod might feel a bit static after a while.

I just looked up your ZOOM camera and BINGO!!! You made the right choice!!!! You are on a MAC and you have the right camera!!! You can skip all of this complicated mess and get great quality!!! Your camera connects via USB and can stream LIVE to your computer. So all you have to do is..

1.)Connect the camera USB to your mac2.)Launch QUICKTIME3.)Select the camera for audio and video input from the drop down menu triangle in quicktime4.)Selecte MAX quality in quicktime.5.)Click on RECORD.

Thats it!!! Youve got two high quality stereo condenser mics built in to the camera!! The audio and video will record directly to your mac in to a single quicktime file that you can either upload to youtube or edit in Premiere I'd say start that way!!

Once you have that down, keep making vids and start looking in to adding to your process. To wit...

The SM57 is just a good all around mic. If you had to pick one mic to have, that's the one I'd pick You can mic anything with it and get good results. For specifically micing acoustic guitar CONDENSER mics are a better choice The good news is you can get a nice condneser for cheap. The MXL 990 is less than $100.

I"m assuming your "Mic Locker" is empty at this point? Folks usually start with a SM47 or something similar and add specialty mics, like Condenser, ribbon, etc. as they go. But if you are mostly gonna be doing just acoustic recording, then sure, grab a condenser

You probably don't want to put your mic behind the camera. You want the mic as close the source of your signal/audio as possible. In this case, your guitar and mouth. So you will want a mic stand probably with a boom arm to find a good spot for your microphone. Assuming here, that you do not have a pickup built in to your accoustic guitar. You can always add one later

There are two ways to do this.

1.) LIVE - Straight to camera

2.) 2 System - Recording Audio to Computer, Video To Camera and then combining them in Video Editing Software like Adobe Premiere.

If you use the LIVE approach, you can run from your SCARLETT (assuming you use a condenser mic, you will need the scarlett for phantom power for the mic, if you use the SM57, you can just run it directly in to the camera with the adapter I mentioned) via headphone jack directly to your cameras mic input. That way your audio and video are synched up and you just need to transfer the file from camera to computer and maybe trim it up in Adobe Premiere.

If you use Option 2. You will run the mic to scarlett, then record audio on computer using your DAW (reaper/etc.) and camera for video. Then bring audio file and video file together in Adobe Premiere/Sony Vegas Etc. and SYNCH them up. This takes some practice.

P.S. As BOGDAN mentioned, the IDEAL way would be to use a CONDENSER mic just for guitar, and then a SM57 for vocals and record both via DAW. So that you can mix them and add fx. So now your talking two mics, two tracks of audio and two tracks of video. This can seem overwhelming. Just for starters, as BOGDAN mentioned, the mic on your zoom camera looks nice!! I'd say record a few videos JUST USING THE ZOOM FOR EVERYTHING. You can always make it more complex as you go. Try to record in one take. Don't even edit. Just record, play, stop. Transfer to computer and preview it. If it looks good upload it! Then start experimenting with more complicated procedures

[

Make sense?

Todd

QUOTE (Cornelius @ Aug 1 2014, 06:44 AM)

Tnx Todd well explained, but i noticed you recomendet the SM57, this is a Dynamic Mic Right ? should i use Condensator, or is it good enough ? cause when i make the audio, i only need one mounted Mic in the room, behind the camera right, is that good enough ? and then plug it on to the Scarlet ?

And btw , i use mac, so tnx for the link to the program.. preshe8it im so psyched to make new videos, cant wait..

Once you get the tools, you will want to know how to make nice videos with them, so learning about lights is a great way to start. If you get your way around lights, you will have a very important element which will mean a great difference in your vids.

This is just a starting point, tho, so I am sure that a lot of other interesting insights will turn out in the next posts

Please let us know about your progress with all this and we'll be happy to assist further if you need that, of course. Lighting can work wonders if you know how to use it I was fortunate enough to benefit from the assistance of some professional help from my friends who are working in the field, but that shouldn't be a thing that you need to worry about, as you have seen that with just a bit of knowhow you can pull things off in style

QUOTE (Cornelius @ Aug 3 2014, 09:39 AM)

Todd/Bogdan/Cosmin :

wow, no wonder you guys are instructor at Guitarmasterclass great explained, cant wait to record my new videos...also when you mentioned lighting, dident think it was that important , great

All the important topics have been covered on this thread! It's great to see how much knowledge and experience can be found here at GMC forum. Cosmin added the importance of a good lightening when you film video that is a detail that can improve the overall quality of your videos drastically. I've been recording guitar videos for more than 6 years and the lightening has been the trickier part for me. Nowadays I'm happy with the overall quality that I get, but I'm all the time experimenting to improve my audio and video quality.

Now that you have all these guidelines and suggestions, it's time to experiment by yourself to see how you manage all these things and the results that you get. Feel free to post samples and draft to let us check them and give some feedback.

All the important topics have been covered on this thread! It's great to see how much knowledge and experience can be found here at GMC forum. Cosmin added the importance of a good lightening when you film video that is a detail that can improve the overall quality of your videos drastically. I've been recording guitar videos for more than 6 years and the lightening has been the trickier part for me. Nowadays I'm happy with the overall quality that I get, but I'm all the time experimenting to improve my audio and video quality.

Now that you have all these guidelines and suggestions, it's time to experiment by yourself to see how you manage all these things and the results that you get. Feel free to post samples and draft to let us check them and give some feedback.

Gabriel pointed out a very important aspect - experimenting These suggestions that we all gathered have been results of our experiments - who knows what you will get from tinkering with the settings? I am sure you will discover many things in your tryouts as well so as Gabi said, share your results and samples with us, if you need feedback.